The small town of Balaklava is one of the coziest resorts in Crimea. There are no beaches here, but its location in a narrow winding bay among the mountains creates a special atmosphere of comfort. Dozens of yachts and boats are moored in the marina of Balaklava Bay. All this gives the impression that you are in a Mediterranean resort in Greece or Italy.
The center of Balaklava resort life is the Nazukin Embankment with facades of white stone houses. It stretches for 500 meters along the left bank of the Balaklava Bay. Balaklava Marina is located in the central part of the embankment. Restaurants are located in almost all the houses that overlook the embankment.
Each Balaklava restaurant serves local fish dishes. Many tourists specially come to Balaklava to eat dishes of fresh fish, which fishermen bring here every day. Dozens of fishermen are fishing directly on the Balaklava embankment. Not only small surmullet or horse mackerel enter Balaklava Bay, but also different types of mullet. Fishermen usually deliver part of the catch to restaurants with Balaklavas.
Balaklava Bay is very narrow (from 200 to 400 meters), and at the same time deep (17 meters), so if you are interested in a beach holiday, then Balaklava is not the best place for this. In the bay itself, at the foot of the Chembalo fortress, there is a small concrete slab where you can swim, but this is not the really comfortable place.
The main beach of Balaklava is located 2 kilometers from the city. It`s called Silver Beach. The path to it also begins at the Chembalo fortress and goes along the rocky seashore. Even further away is the Golden Beach. Most tourists go to these beaches by boat. There are always a lot of boats on the Balaklava embankment that are ready to take you to the beach and then take you back.
On the slope of the mountain, at the exit from Balaklava Bay to the sea, there is the Genoese Fortress of Chembalo. It was founded in 1343 and became the main fortification of the Genoese on the western coast of the Crimea. The city of Kafa (now Feodosia) on the eastern shore was the capital of the Genoese colonies. In Sudak they built a powerful Genoese fortress, which became their main military base.
The Chembalo Fortress can be reached by climbing the mountain slope from the Nazukin Embankment. Here you will see the ruins of the four towers of the castle of St. Nicholas. From the viewing points of these towers, a very beautiful panorama of Balaklava Bay opens, and from the upper tower of the Donjon, the rocky coast of the Black Sea and the protected area of Cape Aya are visible.
On the opposite shore, in the thickness of Mountain Tavros, there is a Balaklava Museum of Submarines. This is one of the most interesting museums in Crimea. Until 1993, this place was classified and was called Object 825 GTS. In the thickness of the rock there was a base of submarines that could be equipped with nuclear weapons.
In Soviet times, the entire city of Balaklava was a closed city, the main base of submarines on the Black Sea. It did not exist on geographical maps, and many locals did not even know that there was a military facility in this bay. Photos from Soviet times show that where there is now a cozy embankment with restaurants, a few decades ago there were piers with submarines ready to go on a combat mission.
The history of Balaklava
There are mentions of Balaklava Bay in the essays of the Roman historian Pliny the Elder of the 1st century AD. These places began to be developed by Greek colonists, who founded Tauric Chersonesos in the 4th century BC. However, the bay, which is not visible from the sea, was more often used by pirates who made unexpected attacks on merchant ships from it.
The small settlement of Yamboli on the site of the present Balaklava was founded in the 7th century by the Byzantines, but Balaklava became a strategically important city under the Genoese, who built the Chembalo fortress here.
The fortress of Chembalo became the main fortification of the Genoese on the western coast of the Crimea. The city of Kafa (now Feodosia) on the eastern shore became the capital of the Genoese colonies. In Sudak they built a Genoese fortress, which became the main military base.
In the 15th century, the Genoese controlled the eastern coast completely, and in the Balaklava area there was a constant struggle with the Byzantine principality of Feodoro. Their capital was located in the cave city of Mangup-Kale (30 km from Balaklava), and they controlled the steppe regions of Crimea. In 1475, the Turks seized Crimea. The Turks called the fortress of Chembalo Balyklava. This name has survived to the present day.
